Review of Bashert

[Mark Bramson]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Bashert" by Larry G. Goldsmith.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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While I enjoyed the book Bashert, I had to give it a 3 out of 5 rating. Readers who enjoy historical fiction and fast-paced books might find this suitable. I liked that the story moved along quickly, and some characters were well-described. I did not notice any anachronisms, and the plot was evident, but there could have been further story development within sub-plots. Why was the prosecutor, Simon Schwartz, a hard charger unwilling to seek the truth? What specific circumstances led the FBI to target this one particular rabbi? In addition to a brief personalized account of the Woodstock Concert, I would have enjoyed more detail on how Michael found other clients and became a well-to-do lawyer. Some detail on the plight of women in the 1960s and 1970s would have supplemented the plot. The standards for Jewish women such as Shira could have been better defined. Sexual references were well-treated with enough description for our mind to appreciate, yet with a minimum of unnecessary graphic overstimulation. The book's reference to some actual laws and individuals dealing with US-Soviet interactions educated me. It was interesting to learn some of the history of Jewish emigration from Russia in the early 1970's. One feature I found most distracting was the inconsistent switching by the author as he referred to his father-in-law as both "Rav" and "the Rav." There were other instances when the author referred to "the rabbi," so using "the" was distracting and unnecessary. Throughout the book, I found some editing and grammar errors. These included compound sentences, misuse of commas and semi-colons (either missing or unneeded), extra and unnecessary words that a proofreader missed, and frequent use of passive voice, making sentences wordy and hard to follow. There was at least one instance of a common spelling error: "renumerate" was used on p. 120 in place of the proper "remunerate" (meaning to pay for goods or services or to pay back). I completed this book in four reading sessions of about 30 minutes each.

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Bashert
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